Terre Haute takes step forward on new downtown hotels

David Kronke, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·3 min read

Apr. 17—New hotels at Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue came closer to fruition Wednesday when the Terre Haute Redevelopment Commission voted to authorize the solicitation of offers for property there.

Building Courtyard Inn and Residence Inn hotels, possibly with an accompanying parking garage, has been in the works since June of 2022, with Gibson Development and Dora Hotel Co. collaborating on the project.

Designs for the proposed project were made public at the time, and the Wabash River Regional Development Authority awarded $4.3 million in READI 1.0 funds to the undertaking.

In March of this year, the Terre Haute City Council approved spending $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act money toward the project after Brian Kooistra, executive vice president of Gibson Development, agreed to alter blueprints to include two retail outlets on the ground floor of the parking garage.

Constructing of the hotels is expected to cost $69 million, with $55 million coming from private investment.

All READI 1.0 and ARPA money received for projects must be spent by the end of 2026.

Jordan Marvel, Executive Director of the Terre Haute Department of Redevelopment, said, "This is the first step in getting the process really rolling. ... We feel pretty confident that this is going to be a great thing for downtown and Vigo County."

Marvel said bids will be due by early July.

"We hope that multiple interested parties submit bids," he added. "We will give each bid that's submitted equal weight. It will be a completely fair process."

City Councilman Todd Nation, however, said it's his understanding that "there's no expectation that this will go to anyone but Gibson Development and Dora. ... The rest of the [hospitality development] market is not prepared to respond to this."

Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun said, "You always want multiple bids on a project [but] we're confident the developers [Gibson and Dora] are prepared."

If other companies did submit bids, Nation added, their proposals would have to describe a project similar to that already put forward.

Currently, the former administration office building of the Vigo County School Corp. sits on the land in question. Whether the property's new owner or local government would demolish the building will be addressed in the proposals the commission receives.

"It's kind of up in the air" who will level the building, Marvel said.

Other business

In other business, the commission voted to reject bids for a street improvement project to rebuild and separate the storm and sanitary sewer that runs along Seabury Avenue between Hulman Street and College Avenue.

The panel's legal counsel advised that the notice seeking bids and the specifications on the bids contained contradictory information, which is not allowed by Indiana Code.

A new solicitation of bids will be made.

"We recognized that there was an inconsistency between the notice to bidders and the bidders' specifications and we don't like it," Marvel said. "To be the most fair to all parties involved, it would be best to rebid the project with the correct language in both the specifications and the notice."

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.